Germany plans €4bn buyout of RWE and E.ON's Urenco stake at UK's request

Germany's government plans to spend up to €4 billion acquiring RWE and E.ON's combined one-third stake in Urenco, the uranium enrichment company, after Britain asked Berlin to prevent the holding from passing to another buyer.

A new line appeared in the Bundestag's final deliberations on the 2027 draft budget setting aside €4 billion for "the acquisition and holding of stakes in companies in the energy sector." Political sources told German newspaper Die Welt the funds were earmarked for Urenco. Germany's finance and economy ministries declined to identify the purpose of the line.

Handelsblatt, citing government circles, reported that London requested the move because Urenco is set to play a central role in modernising Britain's nuclear deterrent, specifically supplying reactor fuel for military vessels including nuclear submarines. Berlin confirmed it had been informed of Britain's plans to produce reactor fuel for defence purposes and said this complies with the 1970 Treaty of Almelo, which founded Urenco and limits it to civilian work.

Urenco is owned in equal thirds by the British government, the Dutch government, and a holding company jointly owned by E.ON and RWE. It operates enrichment plants in Gronau, Germany; Almelo, the Netherlands; Capenhurst, England; and Eunice, New Mexico — the only commercial enrichment facility in the United States. Gronau holds an indefinite operating permit exempting it from Germany's nuclear phase-out.

RWE has said it wants to sell its minority stake. E.ON chief executive Leonhard Birnbaum has said a sale would require government approval. The stake proved hard to sell previously: when it was last on the market in 2016, Russia's Rosatom and France's Areva were reported to have shown interest.

E.ON shares rose 1.5% on Friday, among the biggest DAX gainers. RWE gained 0.3%. Neither company nor the German government commented.